Brotherhood (Original Draft)
by PrydonianAlchemist
Summary: Bonds Unbreakable, Closer than friendship Even with the unbearable secrets you keep
1. chapter 1

He hasn't been here long, but we're very close friends. He calls himself Rassilon, and claims to be from another world.

I mainly pretend to believe him, but some things I do really believe.

He speaks of this strange power that, I guess from what he explained, allows you to

create, destroy and reconstruct objects?

He calls it alchemy.

I just accept that he's a bit different.

I never really introduced myself.

I was abandoned as a kit, and was never really named, so I just named myself.

Ich nenne michAlfons.

Today, Rassilon looks a bit off, like he's missing something.

Maybe someone?

I ask him.

He tells me that it's nothing but a hard day.

"Sure." I murmur, rolling my eyes in sarcasm.

He mimics my look, and we stare at each other until he bursts out laughing.

I burst out laughing as well, but I am abruptly stopped when a tickle in my throat makes me burst out into a small fit of coughing.

Rassilon stops laughing, and looks at me with concern. "You all right?"

I catch my breath. "Perfectly fine. It must be the chill in the air."

That only made him moreverdächtige, but, he didn't press on any further.

"Only two months." Were the next words out of his mouth.

"Excuse me?"

"I've only been here for two months." He murmurs. "I met you only on the second day I was here."

"Okay." I murmur flatly, coughing again.

"I'm going home." Rassilon mutters back. "You should too."

I catch my breath, looking at him indignantly. "I'm coming with you."

He looks annoyed at me for several seconds, letting out a loud long sigh. "Fine. If you let me tell you about how I got here."

I narrow my eyes.

"Fine."

Well, I got no sleep last night.

Care to know why?

I think you already know.

Ich hasse wird krank.

I'm exhausted, but I decide to head to the Clan first thing that morning.

I am greeted by the leader,Flüsternstern, as soon as I get there. All the heads of the Clan cats turn toward me and they each give me a welcome greeting.

Flüsternsternis the first to greet me as I enter the camp. As the others notice, I give aWillkommensgreeting.

"Alfons?"

As I enter camp, I spot a familiar face.

"Ottertatze?"

"Who's that? I'm Ottershade now!" The brown and white tom gives me the broadest smile he can muster, and I echo him, testing his name on my tongue.

"Ottershade...Otterfarbton."

I raise my head. "How's your mother? Has she gotten better?"

Otterfarbton shrugged. Still coughing, but otherwise, fine."

He casts his gaze out to the forest. "I wish Silentstar would move us away from that Twolegplace. Too many cats from patrols are getting treated for smoke inhalation lately."

I open my mouth to reply, but another voice interrupted me. "Is that my old apprentice?"

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Not him.

I give a nervous chuckle, turning around to face a large ginger tabby. "Alderflamme?" I gulp.

Next thing I know, I'm almost shoved into the ground when my former mentor ruffles my head fur.

If you would call it ruffling my head fur.

"I can't really stay long." I say as soon as I recover. "I didn't really get much sleep. My brother's gonna pressure me to."

"But didn't your brother die moons ago when that metal bird crashed through camp?"

That question hit me hard.

I've never even had an ounce of thought about my real brother since Rassilon came to stay with me.

I glance over the scars that are still left by that particular crash.

The crash that took my real brother.

I shake my head. "I'd better go."

I immediately take off running.

Running as fast as I can.

As far as I can.

"Alfons!"

Almost immediately, I was hurled to the ground.

I found myself on the edge of the ThunderPath as a monster fled past me, narrowly missing my tail.

"Pay attention to where you're going!" Rassilon snapped near my ear. "Geez, you're like my brother. Easily distracted."

True.

"Well, will you get off of me. You look like a giant idiot."

Rassilon gave me a mildly offended look, but obeyed, letting me stand and dust myself off.

I start coughing again as I finish dusting myself off. In between coughs and trying to catch my breath I order him to go home. "Just.. Go... Home... I'll be there... In a little bit."

Rassilon briefly messes with his right forepaw, then his gaze snapped up to me. "Are you sure this is a cold?"

I try, yet fail to catch my breath again, nodding instead. "Go home... Now."

"Fine. Whatever." With a final glance as his right forepaw, then at me, he dashed off. I catch my breath seconds later, watching as he slowly disappeared from my sight.

That's when I burst into another coughing fit. I backed against a tree, attempting to recover.

I spit something out onto the ground as it rises up my throat.

With a shocking realization, I know what it is.

It's blood.

I just... I just... Coughed up blood.

I shake my head.

Rassilon may have been right.

This is not something to do with the winter coming.

Maybe it's the Twolegplace.

Something that serious couldn't come from that, could it?

Shaking my head, I decide to leave it alone, and head for home.

Rassilon looks up at me as I enter the room. "You okay, Al?"

He studies me more, eyes narrowing as he raises his head to look me straight in the eye. " Is that blood on your mouth?"

I hadn't realized. I wipe the blood from my muzzle and smile reassuringly. "I went hunting after you left." I lie.

"Rassilon?" I hear a new voice as a brown she-cat steps beside him. I ponder for a minute before speaking. "Wer ist das?"

" I'm pretty sure bringing random cats -"

He interrupts me before I can say any more.

"She's Noah. She'll be staying for a bit before the Clan cats stop kidnapping these kittypets."

Fine. Wenn das deine Entschuldigung ist, have at it.

"She can fight and hunt, right?" I kept pressuring him with questions.

Rassilon nodded with a snarl. "Who's the older brother, again?"

I smile, chuckling in a self-satisfied manner to myself! "Okay. I'll be upstairs if you need me."

I paused at the first step. "Find her something to eat at least."

I head upstairs without another word.

Yet, I don't sleep.

I don't choose to.

I stare out my window at the distant twolegrauch esterin which smoke is constantly blowing in the direction of my Clan's camp.

I cast my gaze on where the Clan camp is. If I'm going back there tomorrow, they will not know about Noah.

I won't tell them anything.

I won't even go if it leads to this.

"She's asleep, finally. Have you really been sitting there for three hours?"

Rassilon broke the silence. I raised my head.

"I guess I maybe dozed off."

I stared off back at the distant WindClan camp. "I'm going back tomorrow. This is going to be something I'm doing on a regular basis."

"You mean, like every day? Al, I'm not watching Noah alone."

I stood, turning away, kicking the leg of the chair I'd once been sitting on in annoyance. "You don't understand. You are the older one, therefore, you have more responsibility."

I bared my teeth, pushing the door open. "I'll be back tomorrow night."

I brushed past Noah, who, contrary to what Rassilon had said, was standing at the doorway, stalking out the door, into theneblige nacht.

As I reached the camp, the sun was rising over the horizon. Otterfarbton was the first to greet me, but his movements and his wild eyes suggested panic.

I grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him to reality. "Okay, now what is it?"

"Silentstar isn't moving us. We're staying put."

That set me off. "What?"

I've had enough problems lately to have another one stacked on my shoulders.

I began to rant until my throat was dry. "He isn't aware that some of us are getting sick because of the Twolegs?"

The tom nodded. "He's aware, b-but he told us it's disrespectful to leave our ancestors former grounds."

"Vorfahren, meine Pfote." I spat under my breath as I ran furiously away from my friend. "That bastard's going to pay for his actions."

Everyone stared at me like I was crazy as I entered camp. It washispatched figure that stopped me. "What is it this time?"

"It's your fault! " Were the first words out of my mouth, catchingFlüsternsternby surprise.

But his green eyes narrowed. "Alfons, you know we can't move the Clan. It's a huge risk."

"A huge risk for what?"

The tom is silent. I can feel dozens of eyes burning into me, waiting for our leader to reply.

He doesn't.

Instead, he whacks me over the head with a paw. Hard. "Get out. Get out, Alfons."

I don't refuse.

I'm halfway through the forest, before I realize there's blood running down my face.

My leader had torn my left ear clean off.

"Damn it." I shake my head, cursing the word several times over.

"I'm not going back there."

There were no streams nearby, which disgusted me.

I may as well as have to do explaining to do to Rassilon.

Great.

Thankfully, I'm back before he is, later that afternoon. Noah has brought prey in she'd caught.

She offers me a mouse.

As I begin eating, she points out my torn ear.

My appetite leaves me.

I push away the mouse, disgusted by the sight of it.

"It's nothing." I smile reassuringly at the tabby.

She opens her mouth to say more, but the door creaks open.

It's Rassilon.

"You're back early." He says flatly, sitting beside me.

I nod, feeling nauseated.

"I can finish that for you, if you'd like." He indicates the mouse I'd abandoned moments earlier.

I nod again. "Sure. I'm not hungry."

He finishes it in a few famished gulps, before speaking again. "I saw my brother again."

"Das ist großartig!" I say, overly delighted.

Rassilon smiles, but it fades. His golden gaze becomes impassive.

"He's going to open the gate and bring me back to my world."

I lower my head, trying not to think of the fact of being left alone again. "Oh. Okay."

"Maybe, if I can convince Long Branch, you can come with me."

I know he's trying to reassure me.

"Hey, Alfons?"

I raise my head, my thoughts vanishing.

"I'm meeting someone. Do you know of any farmhouse near Twolegplace?"

"Yeah." I meow. "It's near WindClan territory. I'll take you there on my way to WindClan tomorrow."

His nod is quick. It gets quiet.

Noah leaves the two of us alone.

Rassilon taps his forepaws on the floor.

It's quiet enough for me to notice that the right paw tapping on the floor is different than the left.

"I'm going to get some sleep." Rassilon stood up, leaving the room.

I also couldn't help hearing that his left hindleg's step sounded odd as well.

I sleep in that room.

My head is pounding when I wake up; I feel feverish.

Despite my own protesting body, I managed to get Rassilon to get up and come with me.

Rassilon notices my tired demeanor, but I brush it off and tell him I'll leave without him if he continues to talk in that manner.

He rolls his eyes.

We're halfway there. It's been quiet, but I feel that it's time to break it.

"Last night, when you walked away, two of your pawsteps sounded odd.Warum ist das?"

He stops abruptly. "Alfons, h-have you ever thought of bringing someone, family maybe, back to life, ever?"

My thoughts go to my brother. "More than once, actually."

I'd admitted to it.

Rassilon faces me abruptly. "Well, I've tried it. It failed. I lost my lift hindleg to it."

"The other leg I sacrificed to get my brother's soul back."

It's quiet for the rest of the trip.

I go to WindClan, quite strangely, they accepted me back.

My leader puts me to work on strengthening the boundaries of the camp.

I work until the deputy calls me into the leaders den.

"What is it, I'm still-"

"That's not what we called you here for." The deputy,Silberwolke, narrows his eyes. "We're asking you to stay here permanently, as a full WindClan warrior."

I'm caught by surprise, but acquiesce. "Sure.Silberwolke."

Silberwolkemutters something to the WindClan leader, then looks up to me with blazing fire in his eyes. "You've one day to tell whoever you're staying with. Go."

He shoves me out, and I storm out of camp.

I deliberately walk slowly so I get back to my place near moonhigh.

I run to it as I spot it, opening the door and running up the stairs.

I hear voices.

Rassilon's home early, conversing with Noah.

I catch my breath, growling.

I try to enter the room without disturbing them, but I begin coughing, making Rassilon sit up and look at me. "Something wrong?"

I don't reply. Knowing I'd interrupted a conversation, I left the room, stalking down the stairs.

I hear pawsteps behind me, and narrowed my eyes. "I'm moving permanently to WindClan. It seems that I'm more needed there.

"No, brother-" I hear Rassilon cut himself off, knowing he'd said the wrong thing.

That made me snap."Who ever said I was your brother!?"

I complete my my way down the stairs, despite Rassilon's protests, then turn around, raising my voice. "DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW IT FEELS TO HAVE SOMETHING SLOWLY KILL YOU!?"

I find myself in a coughing fit, trying to catch my breath. I cover my muzzle with my paw. I wait out the fit until I feel something come up my throat, and before I knew it, blood was dripping down my paw.

I stared at it as it hadn't happened before, then raised my head worriedly to meet Rassilon's gaze.

He stands up, his golden eyes filled with shock.

I look down at my bloodied paw again, then set it on the ground. In an instant, my mood changed from worry to a mix of fury and ambition.

"You see now why I've been wanting to prove myself. I've too little time left, Rassilon. Slowly dying."

I shake my head vigorously, getting back to my paws.

I dashed away without another word.

When I join WindClan, I'm made a full warrior.

If you'd call it that.

I have to sleep and constantly keep watch over the barrier.

Just me.

Only me.

In the approaching cold.

Flüsternsterntells me it's what all new warriors do.

If it is, how come I've been doing it for the past week?

It was never like this with the previous leader.

All warriors fear him, even his loyal deputySilberwolke.

I have the sinking feeling I may be fearing him deep inside as well.

I stare at the thorny ceiling protecting our camp like a deadly dome.

I don't know its purpose.

But, whatever purpose it provides, it provides a bit of relief from the smoke-filled air.

Which is good.

Because some days I feel as if I can't breathe at all.

Flüsternsternhas been speaking withSilberwolkequite a bit the last several days, shooting glances towards me.

I have a sinking feeling about this.

I think they want to kill me.

My suspicions seemed to confirm themselves, as Flüsternstern calls me, as well as my friend and mentor, over to him.

We had been the main ones working on the thorn dome structure surrounding our entire camp.

He gestures to the ceiling.

There are markings, in the form of a circle, and within it, writings of a different language I couldn't understand.

I grow soon to realize what it is.

Maybe Rassilon's storiesweretrue.

I just wish...

That I hadn't been so stupid of myself.

"Silvercloud." He calls to the silver tabby across the clearing. WithSilberwolkestands a brown tabby.

Noah!

I turn toward my leader, baring my teeth in a silent snarl."Was machtsiehier?"

I knew he couldn't understand what I'd just spoken, but my tone was enough to get the message across.

"She'll open the gateway for us. The gateway to the other world."

I narrow my eyes, frustrated, dropping my gaze to my paws.

You idiot, Alfons.

I whip my gaze up to the ceiling as I follow Noah's gaze.

It is fixed on a giant green snakelike figure fixed to it.

Which was funny.

It hadn't been there the day before.

I kept my ears pricked, in case the creature made any noise, but other than a faint hum of a Twoleg bird outside, there was no noise.

Wait a minute.

A Twoleg Bird.

Not this again.

But instead, it's not a metal bird that crashes through the dome.

It was Rassilon.

Well, I guess I didn't have to leave, then, if he's here.

"Really, you idiot?" Flüsternstern sneers. "An idiot like you came to fetch your precious Noah?"

"No. You're the idiot."

The WindClan leader's gaze flashes in offense to Rassilon's comment.

Rassilon lets out a growl of hatred, taking off with the intent of taking out the giant snake.

Flüsternsternintercepts the golden tom before he has the chance to launch himself up the thorn dome. "You'll hit him."

The leader nods to the snake's head, in which I notice, there's a golden tabby stuck in its mouth.

The gasp from Rassilon is almost audible to the whole forest. "F-Father?"

He seems like a young kit again, grief stirring in his golden eyes.

The golden tabby lifts his head in response to Rassilon's voice.

"Hi..." He murmurs weakly.

Rassilon bares his teeth. "What are you doing here? Why are you up there?" His voice is not unlike that of a kit's.

"I'm sorry." Rassilon's father drops in the mouth of the snake, appearing defeated. "I couldn't be there for you... When your mother died."

Rassilon appears dumbfounded, mainly out of shock. "What are you talking about? I'm getting you out of there."

He starts for the base of the dome again, but his father whips his gaze up violently. "No! I'll be fine. I'm going on ahead."

"No... You can't say that!"

"I'm sorry." The golden tabby suddenly seized the jaws of the snake, making them close harder around him. I shut my eyes as I hear a sickening snap.

I snap them open suddenly when blood falls on my face. I peel my gaze away from the snake's face to Rassilon. He's collapsed.

From my position halfway across camp, I see the haunted look in his eyes.

I remember that exact feeling.

I look to my leader, searching for any sign of a challenge or retort.

But it's almost if he wants me to go to my friend.

He doesn't stop me when I do.

I slide to a halt beside him. His eyes are still fixed upwards in shock, more at nothing than the snake.

I nudge him. "Rassilon." I murmur.

He doesn't reply.

I try again.

I begin to worry, wondering if and when he'd snap out of his trance.

"Rassilon! Wake up!" I almost sound as if I'm pestering him, but it's my only chance.

I snap my gaze to Flüsternstern, who seems smug with himself.

But I give one last shot.

I find myself shivering in grief, as if Rassilon had died.

I bare my teeth, narrowing my eyes, shouting a word I'd never spoken in a very long time.

"Brother!"

He snaps out of it quickly, slowly turning his gaze to mine.

His voice is hardly more than a whisper when he speaks my name. "Alfons?"

"I-I'm here." I murmur. "I'm fine."

However, as both our gazes turn toward Flüsternstern, I grow less certain about whether or not what I'd just said had been true.

I turn back to him. "You have to get back... To your world, don't you?"

He nods without a further verbal reply.

Maybe, I decide, it's time to seal my fate.

"I owe you one last favor." I murmur, turning my back to him, facing my leader. "Go safely. I'll see you on the other side."

"Wait, what are you doing!?" Rassilon gets up suddenly to stop me. I ignore him. I burst forward as he gives a cry. "Damn it Alfons! What are you doing?!"

This.. This favor.

This favor, Rassilon...

Is the last act of my life.

As I rush towardFlüsternstern, I have one last thought that I can never say to you.

Vergiss mich nicht... Bruder


	2. Translations

Ich nenne mich - I call myself

Verdächtige-suspicious

Ich hasse wird krank.-I hate being sick

Flüsternstern-Silentstar

Willkommens-welcome

Ottertatze-Otterpaw

Otterfarbton-Ottershade

Alderflamme –Alderflame

Wer ist das-Who is this?

Wenn das deine Entschuldigung ist- If that's your excuse

rauch ester-smoke nests (factories)

neblige nacht-foggy night

Vorfahren, meine Pfote-Ancestors, my paw

Das ist großartig-That's great

Warum ist das-Why is that?

Silberwolke-Silvercloud

Was macht sie hier-What's she doing here?

Vergiss mich nicht... Bruder.-Don't forget me... Brother.


End file.
